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Oy. Broadsheet’s Judy Berman wasn’t pleased by what she learned in a Jan. 20 New York Times Fashion & Style profile of Web site SurgicalHouseCalls.com. Here’s how it works:
[The site] allows potential plastic surgery patients to post photos of themselves and a “brief medical history,” along with descriptions of the procedures they’re interested in. Then, SurgeonHouseCalls.com’s 55 doctors respond with recommendations and price quotes.
Like Berman, perhaps it also stirs up concern in you that these docs are willing to make recommendations to (and compete for the business of) patients they’ve not met, whose medical charts they haven’t thoroughly reviewed. In addition to this clear-cut ethical problem, there’s a vague ickiness about the idea of doctors treating cosmetic surgery in such a flip way, particularly after Heidi Montag’s highly publicized transformation.
I’m not about to give a lecture on the evils of plastic surgery. I think it’s important to teach children to embrace their features and to continue to foster that spirit in our adult communities. However, each person’s body is their own, and if, after careful consideration of the pros and cons of surgery, as well as her or his own motives and the potential dangers, an individual decides to go under the knife — that’s up to them. But seriously folks, the internet is where you arrange for pizza – not a rhinoplasty.
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I would assume that once a person selects a doctor from the website, they would have a detailed in-person consultation as usual. If it’s just a good way to scan through possibilities at the start, it doesn’t seem too bad. i think some people could use this to benefit, and for anyone who will just pick up any cheap plastic surgeon and go wild – they weren’t going to be too bright about the decision no matter how they went about it..
I don’t really see what the big deal is here. The site allows patients to consult with many different doctors – and choose the one whose price and recommendations best suit their needs – without having to go to fifty different doctors’ offices. As long as the picture and medical history they post on the site are accurate, they’re giving the doctor as much as they would in an actual consultation. AND I’m sure that they don’t just go straight from the site into the operating room. There must be an additional physical consultation once the patient has selected a doctor (if there isn’t, I take back everything I say) in which any further concerns can be ironed out and the doctor can ascertain if the patient is truly ready for the surgery. As for the flippancy about plastic surgery that seems to bother you so much, that’s our society’s fault, not the website’s.
I don’t have a problem with the set up either. The doctors get some basic information and make suggestions. It’s pretty much what they could do over the phone only with more info and less work. The system could help in more practical ways too like reconstructive cosmetic procedures or even other procedures. One of my friends needed brain surgery to treat a large mass and she wound up going to 5 or 6 different surgeons to get opinions and all they did was looks at the MRI and ask questions which could have been done online to narrow down the possibilities. When there are multiples courses of treatment possible it pays to ask around.
Hell, I wish I could do this with my medical issues.
[...] a ‘fun first step’ for women who are considering going under the knife” — not unlike online plastic surgery consultations. Plus, if you are satisfied with the image the app provides, it allows you to locate the plastic [...]